Former England Test skipper Joe Root has revolutionised his game since the team has been playing the "Bazball" form of Test cricket. They have adapted the approach since the arrival of Brendon McCullum as head coach in 2022.
It has not necessarily worked out the right way. However, Root is not ready to believe that it should not be England's approach going forward. Despite their aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach, England managed only 10 wins from 22 matches, suffering 11 defeats and drawing one.
However, as per Joe Root, who has enjoyed this style of play under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, said that the style of play has been wrongly perceived and that there is a lot more method to it than what people actually see.
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Different To How Lot Of Teams Play: Root On Bazball
Root, who has brought a tactical shift in his approach to play as well, has scored 3,117 runs in the last 36 Test matches under McCullum and Stokes following the "Bazball" approach. Overall, he has scored 13006 runs in 153 Test matches at an average of 57.5 with 36 hundreds and 65 fifties.
"It has become the most fun time of my career. Playing the way we play, the environment that has been created. The job Ben and [head coach] Brendon [McCullum] have done has been fabulous, and so much fun has come with it," he said.
"It might not always get reported how it actually is - I don't think Bazball is the right way to describe it. It has clearly been a big change and is different to how a lot of teams play, but there is a lot more method to it than is probably perceived," he added.
Root further said that as a player now, it is time for him to pay back Ben Stokes, who did so well for him under his leadership for England.
"Ben did so much for me as my vice-captain, now it's my turn to give a bit back to him. It was difficult and weird coming back into the team after being leader. I didn't want to get in Ben's way or step on his toes, but I wanted him to know I was there to support him," Root told Sky Sports.
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England's Bowling Attack Looks Thin Ahead Of First Test
England have named their squad for the first Test with Shoaib Bashir as the specialist spinner in the side. Apart from him, Root can roll his arm over as well. England's bowling attack seems relatively inexperienced with the likes of Gus Atkinson and Jofra Archer not part of the squad.
England squad for first Test vs India: Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Ben Stokes (capt), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.
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